


3301

by byeolbit



Category: VIXX
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen, M/M, based on Cicada 3301 but deviates from actual events, bodyguard Taekwoon and diplomat Wonshik, cyber crime au, security agents VIXX
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:00:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22129120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/byeolbit/pseuds/byeolbit
Summary: What looks to be a simple internet conspiracy reveals a threat that Hakyeon and his team did not expect. As Taekwoon put it, no one expects trouble till it is too late, Hakyeon thinks bitterly.
Relationships: Han Sanghyuk | Hyuk/Lee Hongbin, Jung Taekwoon | Leo/Kim Wonshik | Ravi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	1. primus gradus - 1/2

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Based on the real life internet mystery of Cicada 3301 but has been heavily modified for story purposes  
> 2\. Story is set in late 2010s when most easily recognized technologies were new back then.  
> 3\. [Dictionary of Technical Terms](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pw8fJKuizyQnh2U7_5jgV-tKRxbYUKC-doXk1UkquBg/edit?usp=sharing) for anyone who wishes to understand/nerd out further  
> 4\. Age order is not followed

_primus gradus_

_[latin; first steps]_

-

“Are you sure you aren’t too sore?” Sanghyuk asked, easing down against the headboard as he got off Hongbin. It was still early in the morning, the sun barely above the horizon when the two of them had woken up.

“You almost sound like you wish I was” Hongbin teased. He wasn’t sore in the slightest thanks to the prep but it was fun to tease him.

“Not to brag but…” Sanghyuk trailed off. He was hit with his pillow for the awful dialogue and he yelped as Hongbin did not relent.

Sanghyuk wished Hongbin wasn’t as strong because he was sure the injuries would bruise. Jaehwan had already given him hell for a hickey he had forgotten to cover up. He was going to be an insufferable brat at work this morning.

“I don’t want to go into work today” Hongbin groaned, sprawling out more comfortably on Sanghyuk’s bed. He made a mental note to ask his boyfriend about the company because it was definitely more comfortable than his.

“Me neither but we have bills to pay” Sanghyuk reminded him, exhaling dramatically.

“Which we wouldn’t have so much of if you’d consider moving in with me. My place is closer to work and has better security” Hongbin said before biting his tongue. The topic of living arrangements had been an awkward one between the couple and he hadn’t intended on bringing it up.

“I am still thinking about it” Sanghyuk said cautiously. “I still have some time till my rental agreement is up.”

“I’m not asking you to marry me. Just save rent money together” Hongbin said, trying to do some damage control. He didn’t know why Sanghyuk always evaded the topic. The two of them had been dating for more than a year now.

“I’ll think about it” Sanghyuk deflected. He picked his phone up and started to scroll through the notifications. Hongbin took it as a sign to end the conversation. He moved forward, snuggling into Sanghyuk’s broad chest. Sanghyuk put his arm around Hongbin without looking because he was frowning at his screen.

“Hey look at this” Sanghyuk said, turning the screen to Hongbin. Hongbin squinted, trying to get adjusted to the brightness. After blinking multiple times, he gave up and reached out for the glasses on the bedside table.

“What’s this?” Hongbin asked, scrolling through what looked very similar to a Reddit post. The style had been copied by many forums hoping to also replicate the success of the site but with disappointing results.

“A 4chan post? Seriously?” he asked Sanghyuk, judging him. The site was rather infamous for its content and Hongbin hadn’t expected to find Sanghyuk having an account on it. Sanghyuk only shook his head before explaining.

“It’s not my account. I am following up on a conspiracy article doing the rounds on Medium. This weird image was posted on 4chan two days ago. I followed it here to the original post” Sanghyuk explained.

“Hello, We are looking for highly intelligent individuals. To find them we have devised a test…” Hongbin read the first few lines. He looked at Sanghyuk, before continuing. “There is a message hidden in this text. Find it and it will lead you on the road to finding us. We look forward to meeting the few that will make it all the way through. Signed, 3301.”

“Where was this posted to?” Hongbin asked skeptically.

“4chan and international bulletin. Open to the world. I can look into where the original post came from once we’re at work” Sanghyuk thought out loud.

“And have Hakyeon come after you for using official resources for a bogus message? He’s going to nag you about security protocols for days” Hongbin scoffed.

“We work for the cyber intelligence unit Hongbin. We are the security” Sanghyuk reminded him.

“And so you should know that this is a harmless bogus rabbit hole. Someone has a lot of free time and is trolling everyone” Hongbin pointed out.

“Just look at the solution. Steganography, really? What kind of noob uses such a basic encryption in 2012? Especially if they are looking for “highly talented individuals”?” Hongbin added air quotes for emphasis and sarcasm.

“Maybe they are just jerking us around but it’s fun to watch where this goes” Sanghyuk shrugged.

“Have fun. I’m going to shower and get ready” Hongbin said, getting out of bed and grabbing a robe to cover himself. The sun was well above the horizon now and if they dilly dallied any longer, both of them would be late to work. They didn’t have time to waste now.

“What do you want for breakfast?”

“I don’t feel like eating cereals. Let’s just get everything bagels from that cafe opposite office” Sanghyuk suggested and Hongbin shrugged in nonchalant agreement.

-

“One everything bagel, one chicken club sandwich, one iced Americano and caramel latte for Leo” the barista called out.

Taekwoon thanked her before taking the tray and carrying it over to where Hakyeon was sitting. Hakyeon was staring out of the large french windows, watching people pass by while frowning heavily at something.

“Worrying so much will permanently crease your forehead and age you” Taekwoon reminded him as he sat down.

“I feel sixty on the inside, I really do. Maybe I will finally look that way too” Hakyeon told him sourly. The eldest was grumpy and from his deepening dark circles, Taekwoon could tell he hadn’t gotten enough sleep.

“Work is hectic again?” Taekwoon asked. Hakyeon nodded in response before letting out a deep sigh and leaned back on the chair to stretch. He sat up straight again and bent his head from side to side in an attempt to wake himself up.

“There’s been an increase in the number of cyber attacks against the government databases. None of us can figure out why. All we know is that the attacks have been relentlessly going on for the past few days” Hakyeon explained in a low voice.

“You’re concerned that someone will eventually succeed and steal information” Taekwoon hazarded a guess. He knew he was most likely wrong. The South Korean government invested too much in the security division and hiring brilliant minds for this to be a possible concern.

“No. Our security protocols are the strongest. We have the best defense on the planet technologically” Hakyeon said confirming what Taekwoon was thinking. His voice dropped lower for the next sentence. “I think you’ll think I’m silly if I told you what I was actually worried about.”

“Try me” Taekwoon said, taking a bite of his sandwich.

Hakyeon had some of the best instincts that Taekwoon had seen in a person outside the bodyguard and personal security business he worked in. If he had a hunch, he was almost always correct. It was a disturbing gift but it had also been the reason for Hakyeon’s success in the digital security area. His intuition along with a keen understanding of technology and vast breadth of knowledge.

“I’m worried that it’s a distraction. The attacks? Child’s play. I’m afraid the actual motive is something else and this is just smoke and mirrors to keep us from realizing what it is” Hakyeon told him.

“Why don’t you bring this up with your superiors? National security would look into it if you posed it as a public threat” Taekwoon asked. The two of them were practically whispering now but the topic was sensitive. A local cafe was no place for this conversation but Hakyeon breaking the rules indicated how significant he considered the problem to be.

“They have more pressing concerns. The local elections are coming up and their attention is focused on that. That and covering up any tweet that could be used against any rich enough politician. This is most likely a simple DDOS attack by some fool he thinks he can get away with it. They aren’t concerned” Hakyeon huffed.

“They never are, till something does happen. After which it is usually too late” Taekwoon agreed. It was funny to know that human nature didn’t change, even if the nature of threat changed from physical to digital. When he was young and new, he would be assigned to people who believed they were safe despite the evident danger. Nothing could happen till it did and the agency got blamed for being careless and responsible.

“Wonshik is outside the country, in Paris, and I have no active assignments. If there is something that needs a discrete follow up...” Taekwoon trailed off, sipping his latte.

Hakyeon nodded. It was only breaking the rules if the actual words were said out loud. Implications had plausible deniability.

Hakyeon smiled to himself as he finally ate his bagel. One, the everything bagels from this cafe were delicious and two, he knew he could count on Taekwoon to listen to him and propose solutions instead of dismissing his concerns.

“How did Wonshik end up in Paris?” Hakyeon asked. His friend’s husband rarely travelled internationally for vacation because he claimed that his job as a foreign diplomat had made him tired of long flights. He preferred exploring places in his country whenever he had a chance.

“His last diplomatic mission was in The Hague. A couple of colleagues decided to do a road trip around the EU. He’s joining them for the Paris part and then flying home from there” taekwoon told Hakyeon.

“It’s the city of love. Maybe you should have joined him there” Hakyeon suggested.

Taekwoon just shrugged. He didn’t like long flights either. They had a vacation planned at the end of the year anyways and Taekwoon told Hakyeon the same.

-

“Hey guys! Hongbin, Hakyeon’s looking for you” Jaehwan said when Hongbin and Hyuk walked into the team common area. The vast building floor was divided by departments, each with strict security in all passages. Hakyeon’s team had a few rooms assigned in the north west corner that overlooked the city.

“Did he say for what?” Hongbin asked. Jaehwan shook his head, stirring the cup of instant coffee he held and Hongbin frowned. He dropped his bag onto his desk and walked towards the corner office.

Jaehwan could see Hakyeon pacing through the small glass panels in the walls and wondered if there was trouble brewing. Hakyeon rarely called his team for one on one meetings and stayed tight lipped about it. Something about their boss was strange today.

“Are those bagels?” Jaehwan asked Sanghyuk to distract himself. Whatever it was, hongbin would tell him if it was important. Sanghyuk nodded without looking at him and Jaehwan immediately noted the odd behaviour. Sanghyuk was rarely so engrossed in his phone that he didn’t answer people talking to him.

Must be something important, Jaehwan reasoned as he took a bagel from the bag he was holding. It didn’t feel right that everyone was behaving oddly today. Must have been the stress from the ongoing crisis. He knew Hakyeon wasn’t getting enough sleep and it wouldn’t be a surprise to him if the resident lovebirds weren’t getting sleep either. If not for the same reason. The two of them were absolutely shameless about covering up their indiscretions or simply didn’t know about the existence of concealers.

“Hey, do we need written permission to use the sandboxed lab systems to check on something? Or are those still free for experiments and testing?” Sanghyuk asked Jaehwan suddenly, breaking him out of his trance. He looked woefully at the coffee now cold, that he had forgotten.

“Depends on what you need to test. Why do you ask?” Jaehwan said, leaving the cup on his desk. He would heat it up in the microwave later.

“Take a look at this” Sanghyuk said, handing his phone over to Jaehwan. Jaehwan took the phone with his free hand, struggling to use it since it was his less dominant one.

“Are you sure? The last time I took your phone, you nearly bit my head off about privacy” Jaehwan said, remembering the incident from a few days ago where he had wanted to tease the younger but only got scolded in return.

“You were trying to snoop on my conversation with Bean” Sanghyuk reminded him.

“I was only joking around” Jaehwan said, pouting at him. Sanghyuk only raised an eyebrow at him before practically thrusting the phone into Jaehwan’s hands. Jaehwan threw a soundless tantrum but looked at the screen.

“What is this?” Jaehwan asked, scrolling down the forum. “Russia and India already finished their rounds of recruitment. GHCQ’s was postponed till end of 2013 because of not enough openings and NSA isn’t schedules for theirs to begin till their Interpol collaboration project is done. Most intelligence agencies monitor but never recruit this way. Is this even real?”

“Doesn’t seem like it, does it? Do we know any intelligence organization that uses 3301 in designation code?” Jaehwan asked.

“But even if they did, no one would publicly reveal their PGP keys. Not even to test people to see if they know that you shouldn’t do that” he added, frowning deeper. “No matter how I look at it, it looks bogus.”

“I was thinking of giving the puzzle a go. Purely out of curiosity” Sanghyuk confided in Jaehwan. Sanghyuk had a tendency to follow rabbit holes. Jaehwan remembered this from college when Sanghyuk would spend hours spiralling down wikipedia while he waited for coding contests.

“Using the sandbox labs? Hakyeon would bite your head off” Jaehwan warned. They had strict rules about what they could and couldn’t do. Their boss and department head Hakyeon was known to be a stickler for them. That was the reason the number of incidents had drastically reduced under his leadership.

“Yeah Hongbin said that as well. I just want to see where the rabbit hole ends at” Sanghyuk told him. “Good innocent fun. The moment anything looks weird or a virus filled download tries to initiate, we back out.”

Jaehwan considered it. He could use a break from the extremely dull network analysis he was on. Steganographic decryption took less than a minute with an efficient python program. A bunch of images and book codes would be child’s play in their lab ecosystem.

“During lunch break. Meet me in 17H in three hours. Let’s see what we can find out without getting caught” Jaehwan told him. Sanghyuk grinned and shot him finger guns before walking towards his own desk. Jaehwan went back to his coffee, wondering if what they were doing was okay.


	2. primus gradus - 2/2

_primus gradus_

_[latin; first steps]_

-

"Jaehwan. Hakyeon has a new assignment for you" Hongbin said, walking up to Jaehwan's desk. 

Jaehwan raised an eyebrow. Hongbin had been in Hakyeon's office for close to half an hour and had come out looking thoughtful. Normally the younger man would be teasing their boss or grumbling about whatever assignment he had gotten but this wasn't the case today. Hongbin was lost in thought. Something didn’t sit right according to him and the confusion was clear on his face. He almost walked past Jaehwan but doubled back to fill him on the assignment Hakyeon had asked him to work on.

"He said he sent the case files over email," Hongbin told him. "And that I am supposed to take over monitoring the network analysis program."

"Really?" Jaehwan asked, surprised as he checked his inbox. As if summoned by Hongbin’s words, an email form Hakyeon appeared in the folder. Jaehwan almost cheered out loud but contained his feelings. The monitoring was really boring work. Hakyeon barely let anything go without proper analysis but there was not much to be gained from the predictable bot like hack attempts spiking network activity.

"Yeah. He said we were downgrading the threat level and just blocking the malicious IPs" Hongbin told him with a casual shrug. 

"I see" Jaehwan hummed. No wonder Hongbin was perplexed by this. It was unlike Hakyeon to simply downgrade a threat and move on. But perhaps he was moving on to the other assignments. He had just been talking to Sejeong the other day about new variants of RED protocols for secure communications and how their team had been looking into testing and applying the base principles.

"Did you see Sanghyuk anywhere?" Hongbin asked, looking around. He had been standing by Jaehwan’s desk for a good amount of time but his boyfriend was nowhere to be seen. That was unusual because he could be found by Jaehwan’s desk at any given time of the day, intensive programming or not.

"Yeah. He said he was going to the public library to pick up a book" Jaehwan told him. He instantly regretted his answer because he was supposed to be covering for the man and not actually giving away his location. Sanghyuk would kill him upon return. Curse him and his loose mouth. It was irony that a security analyst had the loosest mouth on the planet Sanghyuk had said and he had been proven right yet again.

"A book?" Hongbin asked, confused by the sudden need for one. What mysterious book did Sanghyuk need that he could not find in the department’s archives or on the government archive? Why had he not mentioned wanting to stop by the library in the morning? They had passed by the building on the way to pick up breakfast.

"You know that proof of concept he was working on? The one on tracking cryptojacking? He said he wanted more books for that" Jaehwan lied. Sanghyuk’s research project was the only project that Jaehwan had any insight into and could lie convincingly about. But the questions he braced himself for never came.

"What did he not find on the internet that he had to go looking for physical books?" Hongbin wondered to himself before returning to his desk. The thought was dismissed from his mind as he logged onto his own system and started on his own work. Jaehwan watched Hongbin plug his earphones in, no doubt listening to the Linkin Park album that he liked.

Jaehwan quickly texted Sanghyuk that Hongbin had been looking for him and that Jaehwan had lied on his behalf before starting to work on his new assignment. He looked over to Hongbin who was typing away furiously on his keyboard. Once assured that the other man’s attention was completely focused on his screen and he had somewhat bought into his lie, he idly spent a few minutes more wondering what his typing speed was before going back to his own project.

An hour passed before Hongbin tapped him on the shoulder. "If you see Sanghyuk, tell him I'm too busy for lunch together today" he told Jaehwan as he locked his system and pocketed his phone.

"Okay" Jaehwan said, watching Hongbin pick up a stack of files and printouts before heading to where Hakyeon stood. The boss greeted him before ushering him off in the direction of the labs and Jaehwan frowned again.

Had they found something in the analysis that he had missed? Jaehwan pulled up the logs from the shared location and glanced over it, his new assignment forgotten.

-

"Hey honey" Taekwoon said the moment he picked up Wonshik's call. He quickly glanced at the door to his office and ensured it was shut properly before heading out to the balcony connected to the floor’s common area. There was no one from his team in office today, busy on their respective event management or body guard duties. His secretary had taken a long coffee break and he could see her walk down to the cafe across the block on the street below.

"Hi babe" Wonshik murmured sleepily. His voice sounded husky as if he had just woken up from sleep. It happened every morning with Wonshik's voice deepening and taking time to come back to normal after he woke up. Taekwoon had grown used to it over the years they had lived together but was still amused by the contrast. Just when he thought Wonshik’s voice couldn’t go any lower.

"What time is it there?" he asked out of habit. Calls at odd times of the day weren't unusual with Wonshik almost always in a separate timezone. As a diplomat in a flexible emissary team, Wonshik travelled to multiple countries. His most recent trip was as an associate delegate to the summit in the UN in The Hague before taking a break and travelling to Paris with his friends. Taekwoon was forgetting the amount of time difference between Paris and Seoul but reasoned it mustn't be too different from The Hague.

"It's almost 3 in the morning" Wonshik told him. He tried to stifle his yawn but Taekwoon could hear it clearly on the other end. He could imagine Wonshik’s ruffled hair and tightly shut eyes that accompanied it.

"Why aren't you asleep yet?" Taekwoon asked him. It was very late at night even for a night owl like Wonshik. It wasn;t uncommon for his team to work late into the night but three am was a weird timing to be awake and to be calling.

"I fell asleep in the evening earlier and woke up now" Wonshik told him as if to dismiss the need for more sleep. 

Taekwoon rolled his eyes. "Go back to sleep you fool" Taekwoon said affectionately.

"No" Wonshik said. His words were sharper than he intended and he flinched though the other man couldn’t see him physically. "I have to talk to you."

"Talk to me in the morning baby" Taekwoon cajoled, despite worry starting to settle into his stomach. Something wasn’t right and his gut instinct never went wrong in such things. He was so glad that he had stepped out to attend the call. Maybe it was nothing and Wonshik would dispel his fears. Maybe it was something sensitive, in which case he was glad he was out here alone.

"Taekwoon" Wonshik said after a long moment of silence. Taekwoon hummed softly in response. The probability of it being something significant kept growing with every silent second passing. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his secretary come out of the cafe holding multiple cups of coffee and walking back to the office building. She would be back in office and approaching Taekwoon in approximately ten minutes and he could not continue the conversation with Wonshik afterwards.

"I'm taking the evening flight home" Wonshik told him.

"I thought you planned to stay for two more days?" Taekwoon asked. This was an abrupt change in plan. Wonshik had planned on staying in Paris for four days starting yesterday. But here he was, cutting his trip short and practically rushing home on what Taekwoon suspected was the earliest available flight home.

"Something came up and they wanted me back in Seoul to act as a liaison between departments in the government," Wonshik told him. Taekwoon took the cue not to ask specific details. Something was Wonshik’s short way of saying “something significant that I can’t discuss over the phone”. Speaking of phones, why was Wonshik calling hm to tell him these things from his personal number instead of the approved secure number that the head of government security had provided him? 

"Is it a long assignment? Will you stay at home for a while then?" Taekwoon asked instead. These details were vague enough. Wonshik was always working on something or the other, just for indeterminate amounts of time.

"I don't know yet. I don't have all the details but I have a hunch I might have to travel again soon" Wonshik said cryptically. He sounded more awake now and Taekwoon could pick the inflections of worry in his voice. This was Wonshik when he was figuring plans out and debating heavy options in his mind. 

"Why?" Taekwoon asked warily. He did not like this Wonshik because this usually meant stressful assignments or trouble. Taekwoon still remembered the Prague assignment.

"Something…" Wonshik trailed off lowering his voice. Taekwoon heard him moving around and doors locking before he spoke up again. Wonshik had moved to find a quieter place to talk to him.

"Something is up. I'm hearing things" Wonshik told him. "I'll tell you more when I get home. I don't want to give details over an insecure phone line."

"I was wondering why you called me over your personal phone but okay" Taekwoon agreed. It must have been something significantly important for Wonshik to specifically ensure he was alone before talking to Taekwoon. 

“I just missed you” Wonshik’s voice changed to a very affectionate tone. Taekwoon heard a soft ‘hey’ spoken to someone else in his vicinity and understood the sudden change. The conversation was over for now and Taekwoon knew he had to wait till he saw Wonshik in person to get all the details he wanted. Suddenly he was left wondering if it had been a coincidence that he had woken up and called in the middle of the night.

"So I'll see you tomorrow evening then" Taekwoon calculated flight times in his head. He hoped Wonshik wouldn’t have a long layover in Istanbul again and would be back home soon because Taekwoon had no idea how he would be able to stop worrying after the way Wonshik had spoken.

"Yeah. No long layovers this time" Wonshik told him, confirming what he had been thinking out loud.

"Can't wait" Taekwoon replied, stepping back inside. He nodded at his secretary who waved at him by shaking the iced latte she had brought along for him. 

"Good night" Wonshik said, yawning again. Taekwoon tried not to smile since he didn't like being affectionate with Wonshik in front of other people but was endeared all the same.

"Good night" he replied before ending the call and putting the phone in his pocket. Maybe coffee would help him focus till Wonshik was back in Seoul.

-

"Was anyone looking for me?" Sanghyuk asked, plopping down on his chair. The wheels squeaked a bit under his weight but he didn't pay any attention to it.

"Hongbin was. I texted you" Jaehwan told him, leaning over to look at Sanghyuk while not looking away from the network analysis result. He had almost broken down the frequency of the attacks to a few pseudo random generators controlling the frequency of the attacks but was yet to analyse the numbers themselves.

"I didn't check my phone. I found something that I got engrossed in" Sanghyuk said sheepishly. He smiled a bit at Jaehwan who tried not to pay too much attention to how soft Sanghyuk looked whenever he smiled. It was one of his weak spots but that would get him into even more trouble.

"That habit of yours is going to get you into trouble one day" Jaehwan said. He clicked his tongue disapprovingly before pushing his chair towards Sanghyuk's desk. Soft smile or no soft smile, he had promised to help Sanghyuk.

"Hongbin was looking for you but then he got busy too. He picked up a stack of files and went somewhere with Hakyeon. Said he was too busy for lunch."

Sanghyuk frowned as he pulled two books out of his bag and placed it on his desk. Hongbin usually insisted on eating together because he hated eating alone. He must have been busy but even that was strange considering how Hongbin had been thinking about leaving early since his schedule was free today. 

Sanghyuk shrugged. Maybe it wasn't so important. He opened up his phone to show Jaehwan a list of numbers that he had compiled and Jaehwan blinked at him, his large, doe eyes practically the picture of confusion.

"What is this?" Jaehwan asked, scrolling through the list. "A book cypher?" he asked, looking over the set of books Sanghyuk had brought along. The numbers on the notes app were tuples that likely resembled page numbers, lines and word numbers.

"I think so but it isn't just the cypher alone. The key is the most fascinating part of this stage" Sanghyuk told Jaehwan. Jaehwan raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued by whatever Sanghyuk had found.

"The puzzle for this stage was a coded book written exclusively in symbols. A set of few images with each page an image" Sanghyuk explained. "So obviously the first thing to do is apply a combinatorial structural analysis and decipher the symbols but then I noticed something funny about the images of the man surrounding the symbols."

"You mean apart from the fact he looks ugly as fuck?" Jaehwan asked, judging the weird extension of the humanoid's limbs. 

"Well yeah but this is actually a famous monotype" Sanghyuk told him. "One that I have seen hanging on the walls of the public library here in Seoul."

"Hence the trip" Jaehwan said, feeling enlightened by the actual cause behind Sanghyuk's behaviour.

"Lo and behold, the weird and the ugly Nebuchadnezzar by William Blake. And just because one is not enough, here, have three versions of the etchings in print" Sanghyuk said, dropping a book in Jaehwan's lap.

"Are you sure you aren't going off on a weird tangent by focusing on the illustrations? It looks like deciphering the symbols and applying the book cypher would give you the answer you need for the next round. This isn't even a significant monotype as far as I can tell" Jaehwan said, flipping through the books nonetheless and googling whatever he didn't understand.

"I thought so too but there is one thing that is clear to me. This isn't some egoistic hobo behind the screen taking people for a ride. There is method to this madness and I think I might have something here" Sanghyuk told him.

"For example, William Blake has this pattern of three uniting to form one. The three people burnt by Nebuchadnezzar who unite with the song of God and what not… so I have been staring at the tuples of three and wondering… what if the three numbers in one tuple combine to give us a fourth? Like the five-four-three here could be averaged to four. Or eight, two, sixty four could reduce to sixteen as it's geometric mean. The exponential of the next set would be -"

"Twenty five?" Jaehwan asked, interrupting Sanghyuk's long monologue.

"How did…" Sanghyuk asked, staring at Jaehwan. What did were the chances that Jaehwan could pull out a random number and it would be the exact number as his result when Sanghyuk hadn't even completed explaining the relationship between the numbers in the tuple.

"Would the next numbers be twenty nine and fifty seven?" Jaehwan asked, glancing between the book and the screen. He pulled up to his screen and started to compare the graph on his screen and the numbers he had copied down from Sanghyuk's phone while the other man had been explaining.

"That's a stretch…" Sanghyuk said, leaning over Jaehwan's shoulder to look at what the man was typing. 

"I'm going to read out a few numbers. Tell me what you find at that position on this particular page" Jaehwan said, picking up an edition and marking page four. He read out the number and Sanghyuk counted, slowly listing down the symbols and words found on the page. It took them a few minutes till they had a meaningful sentence staring at them. The two of them looked at it and then at each other.

"How did you know to use the numbers from the monitoring report Jae?" Sanghyuk asked quietly staring at the words in front of them.

"We need to find Hakyeon and Hongbin" Jaehwan said. He licked his lips as they felt very dry all of a sudden.

**Author's Note:**

> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/starryfics1?s=09) | [Tumblr](https://vixxscifiwritings.tumblr.com) | [CuriousCat](https://curiouscat.me/poojamk15)


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